Stocks Slip Slightly On Renewed Fears

The wall of worry built up to a hint of hurt for the market this week.An old story,the European debt crisis,was re-energized this week when the Fitch Rating Agency cut Greek bonds to junk status.There was also concern about retailers being pressured by rising costs such as the price of cotton.For the week,the Dow lost 0.7 and the NASDAQ fell 0.9,while the S&P edged down 0.3.The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index showed strength in commodities rising 0.7 as hard assets were sought to mitigate portfolio risk.
Though the market showed weakness,American golfer David Toms,who is 44 years old,continues the strong play that landed him second place in a playoff at The Players Championship last week in Florida.Toms shot an excellent 2nd round 16 under par 62 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth,Texas in fine conditions on Friday.He was trailed by Australians John Senden,Steven Bowditch,American Mark Wilson and Korean Charlie Wi at -9.
Next week will see the market digesting new home sales figures,as well as durable goods orders and earnings from Medtronic and Costco.The S&P futures fell 13.90 in response,and bond index futures rose.
Medtronic(MEDT),Costco(COST)

Tech Sector Leading

The S&P futures were up 1.4 tonight,while the Dow futures were down 1.0,and the NASDAQ futures were up 17.0.Only the NASDAQ had a positive week,rising 0.98.Oracle and Research In Motion posted strong quarters,with growth on both the top and bottom lines.Commodities futures were up across the board this evening.At this point,the shortened week ahead looks promising for investors-especially tech investors.Tech could well lead the way the remainder of the year.It's earning it's leadership.Retail can only hope that shoppers will go online this weekend,since a major east coast snow storm will cost them brick and mortar sales.This can't be emphasized enough at this critical time in the holiday cycle.